What Will Happen in 2015?

Railway professionals may face with lots of changes in 2015. Here is the agenda of Turkish railways:

Liberalization of Turkish Railways

Important steps are expected to be taken in 2015 about liberalization of railway transportation in Turkey. TCDD will be splitted into two as infrastructure operator and train operator. TCDD Tasimacilik AS will be the first train operator of new era. Regulations will be completed which enables private locos to run on Turkish railway infrastructure.

Adapazari – Pendik Suburban Line

Istanbul-Adapazari line was stopped due to construction of high speed line and Marmaray. The trains will start service between Pendik and Adapazari on 5th of January.

Siemens Velaro

The first set of a 7-sets-procurement of TCDD which has been tested almost for a year, is expected to start service in first quarter of 2015.

Eurasia Fair

Eurasia Fair will open its doors on 5th of March 2015 in Istanbul.

Halkali Terminal

Halkali Terminal, which is closed for 2 years, was announced to open in early 2015, after many postpones. It’s heard that the construction works stopped and opening may be postponed again.

Edirne-Cerkezkoy-Halkali Trains

It was announced that the regional trains will start to run in February 2015. These trains also wait for the completion of Cerkezkoy-Halkali line. On the other hand, international trains on this route, Bosphor and Balkan Express will wait not only for construction works in Turkey, but also in Bulgaria. The services are currently given by bus connections.

Van Lake Ferry

The first of two new Van Lake ferries is expected to start in May 2015. That will help to overcome the bottleneck of Turkey-Iran railway traffic.

Extension of Marmaray

Marmaray project is expected to speed up with the new fund from budget in 2015. Pendik-Ayrilikcesme in Asian side is expected to have priority so that high speed train service is connected to Marmaray. The project is planned but not expected to complete in 2015.

Samsun – Kalin Railway

Construction works will start in this line for renewal. The tender process is not completed yet. By the works start, Samsun will be disconnected from all Turkey by rail for 2 years.

Railway Summit

Railway Transportation Association (DTD) will organize the Railway Summit for the first time.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is announced to complete by the end of 2015. Trials will start soon between Baku-Akhalkalaki. The construction works on the tunnel between Turkey and Georgia continues.